POV: Lyra
They stopped calling me by name.
The pack.
The ones who used to nod as I passed, or smile, or bring me things I didn't ask for — now they barely looked me in the eye. And when they did, it was like they were staring at a weapon they didn't trust not to explode.
Like I wasn't a person anymore.
Just something the Alpha was foolish enough to protect.
I pretended not to notice. I walked with my chin high, nodded back at the ones who still dared to acknowledge me. But it stung. All of it. The whispers behind my back. The sudden silence when I entered a room.
I wasn't stupid.
They thought I'd turn on them.
And part of me didn't blame them.
The flare hadn't been intentional. But the mark on my skin was proof enough — something inside me was waking, and I couldn't even control it. The dream still haunted me. The words echoed when I was alone.
You are what they fear.
And that terrified me more than anything.
When Kairo left that morning to deal with the outer packs, I stayed behind in the training fields. Not to spar. Not to watch.
To wait.
Because someone else had sent for me.
Someone I never expected.
"She'll help you focus the heat," Kairo had said quietly the night before. "And keep the Council off your back."
He didn't say her name.
But when I saw her, I knew.
Rhea.
The Beta's mate. Healer. Advisor. Former shadow hunter — and Kairo's ex.
Beautiful. Cold. Tall. Sharp like a blade that had once been dipped in sugar but now cut clean.
She stood at the center of the sand pit, dressed in black. Her braid was tight. Her eyes were unreadable.
"I don't train girls who want to be saved," she said without greeting me. "Only the ones willing to bleed for what's coming."
"I'm not looking to be saved."
"Good," she said, tossing me a dagger. "Because the only thing soft around here is your loyalty. Let's fix that."
We trained until my arms screamed.
She didn't go easy. She didn't speak gently. She didn't hold back the fire in her movements.
She wanted to see what I could handle.
I gave her everything.
Hours passed. Sweat soaked through my clothes. My fingertips tingled with fire I didn't mean to summon, and twice I lost control of the dagger mid-throw. But by sunset, her gaze had changed. Just slightly.
"I don't like you," she said, circling me slowly. "But I don't hate you either. I hate what you might become."
"Why?"
"Because it'll force Kairo to choose between you and everything he's built."
She stepped closer.
"And he'll choose you. Even if it kills him."
I didn't answer.
Because I wasn't sure she was wrong.
Later that night, alone again, I reached beneath my pillow and pulled out the black stone. It pulsed like it had a secret, one it was aching to share.
This time, when I closed my eyes and touched it to my skin—
It lit up in a swirl of red and gold.
And I wasn't in my room anymore.
I stood in a fire circle.
Not a dream.
A vision.
A glimpse of something that hadn't happened yet — or maybe, something that had been hidden from me until now.
A voice echoed.
"She will burn the bond."
I turned.
Behind me stood my sister — the flame version from the clearing.
Only this time, she looked real.
And terrified.
"They'll come for you soon," she whispered. "Not just this pack. The Bloodborns. The Ash Guard. You have to be ready."
"For what?"
She looked at me with a sorrow so deep it made my chest ache.
"For the day Kairo becomes your enemy."
The vision broke.
And I woke up screaming.